


Every Dawning Day

by wildforce71



Series: The Nathan AU [2]
Category: Sarah Jane Adventures
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-02-03
Updated: 2019-02-03
Packaged: 2019-10-21 14:35:40
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,194
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17644646
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wildforce71/pseuds/wildforce71
Summary: The Daleks steal Earth, just as they'd planned. But this time around, the Children of Time have an extra weapon. They have Nathan.





	Every Dawning Day

As soon as she reasonably could, Martha slipped away from the control room and headed for the labs. Corporal White, Nathan's current guard, was leaning against the wall by the door.

Martha paused, eyeing the blood on his forehead. "Has someone looked at that?"

"Wunderkind. He says there's no concussion. The medics are on their way, they had a lot of more serious injuries to look at first."

Martha examined it quickly. "It's stopped bleeding. It doesn't look like you have a concussion. Have you called for a replacement?"

"There's no one spare right now."

"I'll take over. Go and get that looked at and then do what you can to help in the infirmary."

"Ma'am." He saluted sharply, heading off.

Nathan was sitting on the floor under the window, dispiritedly fiddling with some of the pieces on the floor. He glanced up when she came in, scrambling to his feet and rushing to throw his arms around her.

"Hey," Martha said quietly. "I'm sorry, I couldn't get away. Are you all right? Not hurt?"

"Not hurt."

"Good. Listen, I checked in with Mount Snowdon. Rani and the Jacksons are fine. None of them were hurt, and they're working just like we are, ok?"

"Thank you," he murmured. "What's happened? Felt like some sort of cross-dimensional spatial transference."

"If you say so," she agreed, bemused. "We're not sure yet. Have you seen an image of the sky?"

"Yes. Twenty six plus us. And the stars are all wrong. Earth's moved to a completely different galaxy."

"That's what they're saying," she agreed. "Come with me."

"Why?"

"I can't stay down here and I dismissed your guard. You can work on this up in Control like the rest of our brightest minds."

"I'm not cleared."

"You can use my login. I'll trust you this once. Come on."

General Sanchez was yelling as they reached Control. Martha pushed Nathan into a seat in front of a terminal, got him logged on, and pulled out her mobile.

"Geneva is calling a Code Red! Everyone to battle positions! Dr Jones, if you're not too busy –“

"Trying to phone the Doctor, sir. But there's no answer! This phone calls anywhere in the universe, it never breaks down. They must be blocking it. Whoever they are."

"We're about to find out. They're coming into orbit."

Nathan tugged lightly at her sleeve; she turned and he slid the phone from her grip, examining it carefully. "It's still working," he confirmed. "No signal degradation, no lose of strength."

"Do you know why he isn't getting it?"

"No. I'm sorry. He should be receiving it."

She nodded, taking it back from him and dialling again.

"Martha Jones! Voice of a nightingale." Jack's voice hardened. "Tell me you put something in my drink."

"No such luck. Have you heard from the Doctor?"

"Not a word," Jack said regretfully. "Where are you?"

"New York." 

"Nice for some!"

"I've been promoted, Medical Director on Project Indigo."

"Hey, d'you get that thing working?"

"Indigo's top secret. No one's supposed to know about it."

"Well, I met a soldier in a bar – long story." Away from the phone, he added, "It was strictly professional."

"We're getting a signal," Nathan murmured, gesturing towards the centre of the room. Martha automatically turned in that direction, letting the phone drop as she listened.

"Oh, _Christ_ ," she breathed.

 _Exterminate – exterminate – exterminate – exterminate –_  
  
She tugged Nathan with her towards the window. Outside a Dalek saucer was hovering over the street, taking random pot shots at the fleeing people.

"What are they?" Nathan asked softly.

"Daleks." Martha lifted her phone again. "Jack? Are you there?" Hearing nothing, she quietly flicked the phone off.

"Daleks are extinct. They died in the Time War."

"And several times since," she agreed. "There's always one or two left."

"That is more than one or two."

"Yes."

Something in the base of the building exploded. Martha lost her footing as the floor shook, skidding into the nearest desk. Nathan clung to the window frame; the building pitched again and he fell to his knees.

"Stay there!" Martha yelled, struggling upright. The building swayed once more and then settled.

"It's not even," Nathan muttered. "Variance of point three degrees from horizontal..."

"Nathan!" Martha snapped. "I need the first aid kit. Over there, in that cabinet. Please." Nathan nodded, scrambling carefully across the floor. Martha made her way to the nearest downed soldier, examining him quickly.

Nathan pushed the case under her fingers and she glanced up; he'd grabbed a second for himself. "Good," she said, smiling as best she could. "Time to put your first aid lessons to work."

Nathan turned and headed for the nearest soldier, crouching to run a quick visual assessment. Martha kept on with what she was doing.

 

Between them they had most of the soldiers and workers treated when Martha's phone rang again. Distracted, she flipped it open while working.

"Martha, you've got to get out of there!"

"I can't, Jack, I've got a job to do." Martha finished off the bandage, smiling quickly at the soldier, and glanced around for Nathan.

"Dr Jones, you will come with me." She looked up to see Sanchez standing over her with a soldier behind him. "We're activating Project Indigo."

"Martha, that's not ready, you can't use it!" Jack yelled. Martha ignored him, gesturing quickly to Nathan. The boy joined her as she was ushered down a corridor; Martha squeezed his hand reassuringly and he smiled shakily.

Sanchez unlocked the door of the Project Indigo storage compartment, gesturing. "Put it on."

"It's not ready," Nathan murmured, helping her with the buckles.

"You shouldn't even be here, you're not cleared for this project," Sanchez snapped at him. Nathan flinched, taking a step back.

"Martha, please, don't do it," Jack begged in her ear.

"You take your orders from UNIT, Dr Jones, not Torchwood!" Sanchez said hotly.

"Why me, sir?" Martha asked, fastening the final buckle.

"You're our only hope at finding the Doctor."

She nodded, turning to Nathan. "Go down to your lab and look yourself in. Don't let anyone in, do you understand?"

Nathan nodded, pushing away from the wall; the soldier jerked him back as the door blew in. "Stay behind me," he ordered grimly.

"Go, Dr Jones," Sanchez ordered, drawing his weapon and joining the soldier, aiming at the approaching Daleks.

Martha bit her lip, fingers curled around the handles of the Indigo harness, and then shook her head. "Nathan!"

He turned to look at her and she held out a hand; when he took it she jerked, making him stumble towards her. "Hold on tight," she ordered, letting go and holding onto the handles again. Nathan wound one arm through the straps, hanging on tightly as she jerked the strings.

Everything narrowed to a pinpoint; the noise and colour and everything pressed in on her, deafening and blinding and overwhelming her. She was aware, though, when Nathan's grip slipped and he tumbled away.

And she was aware when she landed, alone, on a wooden floor.

 

She was still trying to explain to her mother, some time later, when her laptop flicked on. "...getting through. Let me see if I can boost the signal." A figure loomed through static, resolving into Harriet Jones. "Dr Jones, can you hear me?"

"Yeah, I can hear you." Martha sat in front of the computer. "What is this?"

"Hang on a moment, let me just..." Harriet typed at something offscreen and it split into four; Harriet was in one box, Martha could see herself in another, one was blank, and the last...

"Jack!"

"Martha," he said, relieved. "Where are you?"

"Project Indigo must work better than we thought. One second I was in New York, the next – well, maybe it tapped into my mind or something, cos it brought me to the one place I wanted to be."

"You came home," her mother said warmly. "At the end of the world, you came home to me." Martha smiled at her.

"I don't understand, though. What is this?"

"And who are we missing?" Jack added, gesturing at his own screen.

"That contact is having problems. It's an unusual system. Just a moment." She typed rapidly; after a long moment the empty corner of screen wavered, resolving into an empty room. Wherever it was had clearly been unused for a while; dust and cobwebs lay heavily over everything.

"Who's there?" Harriet asked sharply.

"Who is asking?" a male voice said smoothly.

"Harriet Jones, former Prime Minister."

"Yes: I know who you are. I was unclear. Why are you calling here?"

"This is the Subwave network. It's programmed to seek out any one who's had contact with the Doctor." 

"There is no one here who fits that description."

"Where is that?" Jack said, squinting at the screen. "I thought I knew most of the contemporary Companions."

Harriet glanced to one side. "Bannerman Road."

"Banner...that's Sarah Jane Smith's old house?" Martha said in surprise. "How is there anything still there? I thought UNIT cleared that place out."

"They did, and so did we, but we must have missed something," Jack agreed. "It doesn't matter, Martha, we need..."

"Martha?" Someone scrabbled off screen for a moment before Nathan stepped into view.

"Nathan!" Martha reached for the screen before remembering herself. "What are you doing here?"

"I don't know. This is where Project Indigo left me."

"You brought him with you?" Jack said in surprise.

"I couldn't leave him in New York, it was being overrun. Nathan, are you all right?"

"I landed funny. I think I've broken my ankle. But I'm all right apart from that. Mr Smith says so."

"If Mr Smith says so, he's right," Jack said quickly. "Nathan, is it safe there?"

"There's noises outside. But the Daleks haven't come in here. Mr Smith says they probably won't. "

"What are you basing that on, Mr Smith?"

"My calculations are not relevant," Mr Smith said solemnly.

Jack caught Martha's eye, mouthing 'Bluff?' Martha shrugged.

"Nathan," she said, looking back at him, "I want you to stay where you are, all right? I'll get in touch with UNIT as soon as I can, get someone out there to you. For now, you have to lie low, all right?"

"Yes, Dr Jones," he said obediently. "Mr Smith is slightly damaged, maybe I can help fix him."

"Don't do anything that would take you out of contact with us," she ordered.

"I'll be careful."

"Good. Now." She looked at Harriet. "I'm sorry. Where were we?"

 

Clyde wasn't sure when he started hearing the noises.

The other noises – the ones outside – hadn't changed or faded, though at least they weren't coming any closer. Apparently even the Daleks knew that no one lived on Bannerman Road anymore.

Clyde had been sitting in a corner of the kitchen, trying to persuade himself that he could easily make it home before the Daleks caught him, when he suddenly realised the noises he'd been listening to from upstairs were actually voices. He couldn't make out the words – they were too far away, and there was too much noise outside – but they were definitely voices. Frowning, he listened a little longer and then crept up towards the stairs. If someone else was hiding here, he wanted to be sure they weren't about to bring the Daleks in on top of him.

He still couldn't hear anything from the landing; he edged even more carefully up the attic flight, trying to find a spot where he could see into the attic without being seen.

A stair creaked under his foot and he looked down in horror.

"Stranger detected," someone said from inside the attic. Clyde shifted, still trying to see, and the door swung open, blinding him with sudden light.

"Hello, Clyde," a boy's voice he didn't recognise said. "Come and help me with this."

"What?" Clyde scrubbed at his eyes, trying to clear them. "How'd you know I was here?"

"I didn't; I was up here. Help me. I don't have enough hands."

"Trouble?" an older man – American – asked. Clyde blinked as his vision cleared.

"No." The boy turned away from Clyde, seeming to lose interest, and focused on the innards of some kind of computer. "It's just Clyde."

"Clyde Langer," the man said in delight.

Clyde finally focused on the screen, blinking. "Captain Harkness. How does..." Glancing at the boy, he added, "Nathan? You're Nathan, right? You were with Torchwood."

"UNIT," Nathan corrected him. "But yes, I am who you think I am. Can you please hold this for me? I'm running out of time."

Clyde glanced at the screen; it was split in four, but there was no one in any of the windows at the moment. Even Captain Harkness had vanished. "What are you doing?" he asked, giving in and dropping to sit next to Nathan.

"I'm trying to fix Mr Smith so we can call the Doctor."

"Don't think anyone's going to be making housecalls today, mate."

"No, not the...not a medical professional. The Doctor. He's the only one who can stop the Daleks."

"You've got my vote, then," Clyde declared. "What do I need to do?"


End file.
